, 1887-12-29

"
is a month longer there than any
other part of the northwest. John
Russell says the green grass puts forth
there in March, and the bottom land
will at present produce, just for the
cutting, millions of tons of hay. ID.
@. Long, William Owens and others
have taken up ranches on the bottom
and have many head of. cattle there.
There has been plan or two on foot
to drain the lake and the upper river,
30 that the spring freshets will not
inundate the bottom lands along the
river. If such is DONE it is claimed
the Kootenai river and lake bottoms
will support over million people.
On the Upper Kootenai river, at Koo-
tenai City, where the river runs near
the Upper Columbia lake, English
capitalists, known as thei Kootenai
Syndicate. under the management of
William A. Baillie Grohman, are at
work cutting canal $3.50 feet in
length, and wide enough for the pas
sage of boats from the Kootenai river
to the Upper Columbia lake, for the
purpose Of carrying off the high wa
ter in the spring and thus try and
keep the bottom lands further down
the river from overflowipg. The syn
dicate have lease at five cents an acre
per year for all the land along the
river in British Columbia, that they
may drain and save from overflow.
1t is thought, by those posted on the
matter, that this draining of the Up
per Kootenai will have the effect of
considerably lessening the overflow
on that part of the river in the United
States.
Near the mouth of many Of the
streams emptying into the Kootenai
river can be seen placer prospect
holes and old diggins, made in the
early '6Os by the old-time prospectors
On most all of the streams near their
mouths can be. found colors by pam
ming; but very few of them have as
yet been prospected up any distance.
Nine miles up on the Yakh William
Keeler is working some bar placer dig
gings that are from one to two feet deep
which pay averagely we'll The gold is
coarse and flat-termed pumpkin
seed gold. Keeler also has in the Vi
cinity galena and copper bearing
vein of white quartz in porphyry and
lime that prospects very promising.
About 60 miles above the ferry a
dozen Cinnamon have been working
bar placer diggings on the main river
all summer, and couple OF miles be-
low the Chinese, Adam Boyd cleared
$3.50 day placer washing through
the summer. -Four miles up Rainer
creek, which comes in from the north
opposite Libby creek, Moore and
Atherton are opening up fine cop
per and galena ledge in a slate and
lime formation.
ON BoLDER CREEK,
about five miles from its mouth. the
Bolder Greek Mining Company, of
Iowa capitalists, with Merriam Il Arm
strong as managers, have six men,
whom were hired by the year in Iowa,
developing five locations in a contact |
of blue granite and slate formation. |
On the Goth Of last October this COM
pany began opening two-inch sur
face vein on their Homestake location
and now, at the depth Of 40 feet, the
vein is six feet wide, part solid ga
lena and part galena and white
quartz; the whole vein averages 40
ounces silver and 60 per cent. lead.
The company intend building a
wagon road from the Kootenai station
Bonner's ferry toll-road, from a point
about % miles distant from the sta
tion, on up, eastward, to their works,
distance of about 18 miles. The
president of the company, John
Markley, of Iowa, has recently con-
tracted in Chicago to have built, 75
feet long by 18 foot beam stern-wheel
boat, to be put on the Kootenai river;
the company also will put in saw
mill on Bolder Greek this winter and
50-ton concentrator in the spring
Moore, Of Kootenai station, has a
prospect, two miles from the Koote-
mai river. on the southeast side, about
70 miles above Bonner's, on which a
ten-foot shaft shows high grade
copper and galena vein, running east
and west, in q contact of slate and
granite. Moore has winters supply
OF grub on the ground and intends to
put in the winter running tunnel in
on the vein to open it up. A number
OF other prospects are located on
both sides of the river, from Bonner's
Ferry to distance OF 80 miles above.
Prospectors cay it is fine country to
prospect in, and many parts of it no
one as yet has been over q seeking for
quartz. Fair showing copper and ga
lena surface veins are found in all
parts of the country prospected.
Indians can be hired for guides and
to take parties up and down the
river in their canoes for a dollar a
day and their grub.
On any of the bars in the river at
low water great quantities of good
float coal can be picked up; parties